Terminals in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) system are divided into those of an active state where data can be transmitted and those of an idle state. Only terminals of the idle state perform discontinuous reception (DRX) to reduce their power consumption.
To perform the DRX, a DRX cycle is determined and used for monitoring according to a paging occasion in a paging channel (PCH), and the DRX cycle is determined in a network and the same DRX cycle is applied to all terminals within the coverage of a predetermined base station.
In other words, in the conventional 3GPP system, terminals in an idle mode operate in sleep mode (i.e., low-power consuming operation) to reduce power consumption by using the DRX cycle, which is a system parameter.
Whereas the WCDMA 3GPP system aims to provide circuit and packet services in a circuit-based system, a 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE), which is under standardization process to provide diverse packet services, is a packet-based system aiming to provide only a packet service.
Therefore, the conventional method of applying a DRX cycle only to idle-mode terminals and reducing the power consumption of the terminals is not appropriate to the LTE system which is devised to provide a packet service having a burst characteristic.
In short, it is required to develop a method that can reduce power consumption not only in idle-state terminals whose session for a packet service is terminated, but also in terminals whose session is not terminated yet but in an active state where data can be transmitted in a section where there is no data to be transmitted based on the burst characteristic of packet traffic to provide a packet service having a burst characteristic and diverse qualities of service (QoS).
Also, it is required to realize a method and apparatus that can reduce power consumption of a terminal by optionally determining parameters for discontinuous reception/transmission operation based on the QoS of a packet service provided by a cellular system such as a WCDMA 3GPP system to thereby minimize a processing time when a terminal switches between a transmission mode (Tx on) where the terminal transmits packet data and a transmission suspension mode (Tx off) where it does not transmit packet data; and efficiently operating the transmission suspension mode section where the terminal does not transmit packet data.